I’ve decided to try a little experiment. I’ve started a new children’s novel. It’s middle-grade – ages 9-12, so bear that in mind when reading. I’m going to post each chapter as I write it. It will be unedited at the moment and I’m not entirely sure where it will take me. I will gladly take comments on this and if I use your suggestion (not spelling or grammar suggestions though) then I’ll gladly acknowledge you in the book when it’s finished. (Maybe I’ll even name a character after you ) Naturally, I reserve the right to post when I want (I’ll try to keep this up weekly) and I reserve the right to change anything I want in the book, at any time. And of course, everything written here is copyrighted. For those that want to read on an electronic reader, I’ll try to come up with various files you can download so you can read at your leisure. If you want to read this to children you know in that age category, that’s fine too. Sometimes they have great suggestions. So, without further ado, here is Billy Bones: Beyond the Grave (it’s just a working title for now – I might change it later). Earlier chapters : Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Warning: It’s rather morbid, so be warned. ——————— Billy Bones: Beyond the Grave Chapter Three The next night I awoke, somewhat tired. I wasn’t really accustomed to sleeping during the daylight. I even got up at one point during the afternoon and peeked through the curtains to see what the daytime looked like. I should have known what was coming when Goliath whined and hid under the bed as I approached the window. He’s a smart dog. I pulled back the drapes. Blinding light stabbed me in the eyes. The pain hit me so hard I fell over from the impact. I crawled across the floor and reached for the curtains. I strained to close them, and finally had to close my eyes, stand up and yank them shut. With the awful light gone, I plopped on the bed, moaning with what was probably the worst headache I’ve ever had. Goliath got back up on the bed and licked my face. I wrapped my hands around his neck. “Guess that wasn’t such a good idea,” I said. Fortunately, his presence helped to lessen the throbbing behind my eyeballs. I eventually fell back asleep, but woke often to scraping sounds from the hallway. Once it even scratched outside my room. I decided, after the encounter with the sun, that I should probably not open the door. Instead, I hid under the blankets with Goliath and tried to sleep. So by the next night, I was not only tired, but a little shaky. I wasn’t sure what other surprises I was in for, but I thought it might be best to be a little more cautious. I checked myself in the mirror. For a brief moment, I thought I saw an old man there. I shook my head, thinking that I had to be seeing things and studied my nose. I wiggled it and tried to look at it from different angles. I don’t know how Liz figured that one nostril was bigger than the other. It was hardly noticeable. Then, with Goliath on my heels, I inched open the door. He pushed past me and walked out into the corridor. I looked both ways. Again, the rug stretched out forever in each direction with endless doors. I wasn’t sure what to do at that point. Standing around waiting for something to happen didn’t seem to be the best of ideas. I suppose I could have wandered around a little to see just how far the hallways went, but Goliath starting heading for the grand staircase. I shrugged and followed. At the bottom of the staircase were four others – Jeeves and Liz among them. The other two were around my age. One wore a gold and silver kimono. His eyes were almond shaped and he had red stains on his robes. Strangely his lips were the same color. The girl had one nostril that was a little larger than the other. She was as short as the boy, but her shoulders were really wide. Her blonde pigtails bobbed as she looked at me. She touched her larger nostril for a second and then turned around. Goliath and I descended the stairs. “Hello,” I said. The other two nodded, but said nothing. “I’m Billy,” I said, offering my hand. The boy bowed. “Kenji,” he said. The girl took my hand. Her callused grip was really strong. “Miesha. Pleased to meet you.” She looked at Goliath. “I don’t like dogs.” I wasn’t sure what to say about that, so I kept my mouth closed. Goliath didn’t seem offended. He just kept wagging his tail. Liz was still in her blue dress and her hair was still as frizzy as when I met her. “Ready?” she asked. “You three are the late sleepers. The rest have already gone.” “Where?” I asked. “Dead Lessons.” “Oh right. So where do we go?” “I’ll take you,” Liz said. She turned to Jeeves who seemed to be admiring Kenji’s robes. “We’ll probably be late getting back. I have to stop downtown for something and they’ll be coming with me.” Jeeves just blinked and then walked away. He turned only once to look at Kenji’s robes again. “What’s with the robes?” I asked. “Traditional Japanese wear,” Kenji said as we made our way out the door. It was dark out and strangely it helped to dull the mild aching that was still in my head. “I didn’t mean that,” I said. “Why did Jeeves keep looking at your robes?” “They’re silk,” he said, fingering them. I touched them myself. He was right. Silk. “How’d you die?” I asked. We quickened our pace to keep up with Liz. She was marching along the cobblestone sidewalks like she was late for something. He pointed to the stains on his robes. “Poisonous berries. They were in a garden, but I couldn’t read the sign. I only speak Japanese.” I was about to respond that he seemed to speak my language quite nicely, but Miesha interrupted me. “Well that’s ridiculous,” she said. “Your Russian is perfect.” “I don’t speak Russian,” Kenji said. “Sure you do. You all do,” she said. Her lips pursed like she was a little irritated. Liz slowed her pace so that she walked in the midst of us. “No one speaks Russian,” she said. Miesha’s pout got more pronounced. “Nor any other language from the Livingworld. We all speak the same language here in the Afterlife. It’s all in the book.” She looked at the three of us. “None of you have read it, have you?” she asked. All of us hung our heads. Liz said nothing and marched ahead once more. We followed on her heels past faint streetlamps and old, decrepit buildings until we started to get closer to the center of Necropolis. Everything here was tall and cramped together with a smattering of narrow alleys that descended into blackness. There were eyes shining from within some of those alleys and even Goliath seemed a little uncomfortable walking too close to them. Finally Liz brought us up to a blackened stone structure with massive wooden doors. On each door hung a knocker with a gargoyle. The two gargoyles were already waiting, arms crossed. “What took ya so long?” they asked in unison. Liz nodded her head in our direction. “Sleepy heads.” The gargoyle on the left looked at us. “My turn to guess!” “No, it’s not,” said the other. “It’s mine!” “You got the last one,” said the first. “That didn’t count! She was holding her head in her hands. Any idiot could have guessed that one.” “Fine,” said the first. “Your turn then.” The second gargoyle then took a good long look at us. “Easy,” he said. “Two nose pickers, a berry-eater, and a drowned dog.” “Watch out!” screamed the other one, pointing, but it was too late for me. Something barreled into me, knocking me to the ground. It was a man in a bowler hat and a jacket that was far too big for him. His face was half decayed. Three men were chasing after him. He slipped something into my pocket and whispered to me. “Keep this for me. Don’t let them get their hands on it!” The other men seized him, dragging the man away. He didn’t struggle, but watched me with his half gaze. I put my hand in my pocket wondering what seemed so important to the strange man. I nearly gasped as I discretely probed at what felt like four fingers and a thumb. He’d left his hand in there.